Tom May Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 I have several of these railroad fastener clips. (the ones that are kind of twisted like a pretzel). They seem to be the right diameter to loosely fit my pritchel hole, and they already have a sort of "spadey-looking" wide end where the clip meets the rail. Are these things springy enough to make a good holdfast? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Yes, they're a medium carbon steel and make nice springy hold fasts as well as other tools where tough is more important than hard. I have a few of the rectangular rail clips I keep on hand to make things like drifts. They're darned good stock. Be aware you CAN make them brittle normalizing after doing much forging is a really good idea. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 They are a good springy alloy for one, the shape seems a bit much---they are designed for train car loads not a 2 pound hammer on an anvil. Forging them to a better length/cross section would work a treat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 I agree, there is a LOT of steel in the rectangular section clips. Whatever they're called, I forget. Panderol(sp?) clips make nice hold fasts without killing yourself or using a power hammer. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom May Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 Well, that seems to be settled then. Pandrol (had to look it up) clips are exactly what I have. Thanks, guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 The ? shaped clips with the rectangular cross section which is what Frosty and Thomas were referring to are called Unit V anchors. Pandrol clip is the correct name for the pretzel shaped ones. I was wrong about the names until recently and I spent a couple years stacking manifest trains in a railyard haha. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BartW Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Hello; For this part of the world; pandrol E-clips are available in 2 crossections; 18 and 16 mm round (E2039 and E2055 in the pic below). There are also Butterfly clips, which have 2 sprins sides, but are generally thinner. I got buckets of 'm; good trading stock Now I can't get them new; but when they work on track; they remove these clips and trow them away ! ... They apparantly only install new ones. The one I have are colourcoded; the greens are 16mm, the 18 are red. The steel in them is usually a variant of 9260; which is a great steel for tooling; mediocre for knives. Tough stuff. Doesn't want to move under the hammer. Don't forge it too high, it suffers from grain growth like O-1. Normalising is also a good idea. Testing for cracks is also a great idea after forging. Not that great for tongs. For a holdfast it would be great steel; just make sure to NOT quench the tip in water even if it gets red-hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojo Pedro Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Thanks for the brain power Bart, What do you know about the rectangular ones? They are also hard to move under hammer and make good punches I have found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 New Clips are cheap compared to a derailment! Common practice to replace "consumables" as the real cost is in the labour and it costs a lot less to do it when people are already working there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 One key to success with Pandrol clips is making the straightening process as easy as possible. The best method I've found so far is as follows. Get two pieces of pipe: one as long as your vise jaws are wide and big enough to slip over the flattened end of the clip. one about 36" long (give or take, but no less than 24")and big enough to slip over the round end of the clip. Clamp the shorter pipe firmly in your vise, parallel with the jaws. Get the entire clip quite hot in your forge. Slip the flattened end of the clip into the short pipe Slip the long pipe over the round end of the clip. Quickly uncoil the clip, using the long pipe for leverage. Final straightening can be done on the anvil. Here is the basic idea, shown with an unheated clip. In practice, the flattened end would be slid farther into the short pipe, and the long pipe would be slid farther over the round end. It's important to remember that the clip will expand somewhat when heated, so you want a somewhat loose fit between the clip and the pipes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 John; I have to say it: "That's Cheating!". (I use a pipe cheater to bend my rasptle snakes in a post vise too. Set the jaws several inches apart and hook the end of the head under the back jaw. Put the cheater on the body and bend over the other jar. Then put the first bend under the back jaw and bend with cheater the opposite way. Repeat until done. Several heats may be required.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Also, once you've done the basic straightening, you can make additional adjustments with a large bending fork in the vise or the hardy hole, using the long pipe for leverage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Or you can just use bending forks, a scrolling wrench, and a set of tongs fit tothe round crossection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 28, 2021 Share Posted February 28, 2021 Pipe gives you a LOT more leverage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BartW Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 just measured, these guys are 20mm round, the other bucket I got is 18mm round. the butterfly clips are 16 mm. These green ones I had analysed, and the composition was really really similar to 9260 steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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